


Coffee

by thegirl20



Series: Tonight I wanna do some drinkin' (Jane/Maura) [1]
Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-29
Updated: 2012-12-29
Packaged: 2017-11-22 20:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/614015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirl20/pseuds/thegirl20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane and Maura meet for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee

“Coffee.”  
  
It was the first word spoken between them. Not a question. Not an offer. A statement.  
  
Jane Rizzoli had worked with a few Medical Examiners in her time and in her experience, unfailingly, they took their coffee hot and black. And by the gallon. Jane supposed it was because they spent their time in cold, dimly lit morgues in basements. So, when she’d been informed that the new Chief ME would be working her latest case, Jane decided to get them on side early. She didn’t expect to  _like_  the new guy. MEs were a strange bunch. But, to make her life easier, she knew it was best to make a friend rather than a foe of the new Chief.   
  
They’d been called in the middle of the night to an alleyway in a not very nice area of town. It was late and it had been raining. Jane figured that the coffee she’d picked up from the nearby all night diner would sound like manna from heaven right about now. When the hooded figure looked up at her and smiled, Jane physically took a step backwards. Medical Examiners were not supposed to look like  _that_. Reddish gold curls cascaded out of the hood when she pushed it back. A fierce intelligence shone out of hazel eyes that were perfectly made-up in that way that Jane could never seem to achieve without making herself look like a drag-queen. She smiled in return. She was about to introduce herself, but was beaten to it.  
  
“Well, I don’t like to make assumptions, but judging by the shield on your hip, and the fact that there is only one female detective in the Boston Police homicide department, I’m going to go ahead and presume that you are Detective Rizzoli.”  
  
The woman stood up and stepped over the body of the gang-banger with the knife sticking out of his chest. She was wearing the highest god-damned heels that Jane had ever seen. To a crime scene. She held out a latex covered hand.  
  
“Dr Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner.” Jane glanced at the bloody glove and back up, quirking an eyebrow. The Doctor realised her mistake and peeled the glove off, holding her hand out again with a sheepish grin. Jane shifted both coffee cups awkwardly into one hand and shook Maura’s with the other.  
  
“Nice to meet you, Dr Isles.” When Maura let go, Jane once again held out the paper cup. “Coffee.”  
  
“Thank you, Detective, that was most kind of you.” She took the cup and sniffed its contents, her nose wrinkling in displeasure. She mumbled something under her breath and Jane felt her hackles rise because it sounded a whole lot like ‘bitch’.  
  
“What did you just say?”   
  
“I said ‘bitumen’. It’s a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch. Perhaps you know it as asphalt. Anyway, that is what this coffee resembles.”   
  
Jane’s mouth dropped open in shock. Her brain was sifting through what had just been said, trying to decide whether or not she’d been insulted. Either because the coffee she’d bought and paid for had just been compared to a substance used to surface roads, or because this chick assumed she was stupid and didn’t know what bitumen was. She  _hadn’t_ known what bitumen was, but she could have. And if she’d just called it asphalt in the first place, there would have been no confusion.  
  
“Listen, this place ain’t exactly the Champs-Elysees, so I’m sorry if you were expecting a café au lait and a croissant. It’s hot and it’s strong. And it’s all we got, Doc.”  
  
“Au contraire.” Jane watched as Maura peeled off her other glove and took Jane’s coffee out of her hand and walked away, ducking under the crime scene tape that a uni held up for her. She poured the contents of both cups down a nearby drain and returned the same way she’d come now with two empty cups. Jane was too curious to be indignant, even though she’d just watched three of her hard earned bucks literally going down the drain.   
  
“Hold these, please.” The empty cups were thrust into her hands. Jane didn’t miss the way the woman’s eyes strayed to the prominent scars. Usually she would have shoved her hands into her pockets, but they were currently occupied and it made her feel exposed, vulnerable.   
  
The Doctor was rummaging through her case and emerged with a large thermos. Jane found herself smiling and shaking her head. In the middle of a dark, wet October night in Boston, this woman had found the time to dress herself like a runway model, apply make-up and make a thermos of coffee. And she’d  _still_  been at the scene before Jane.   
  
“This is my favourite blend,” she was saying as she poured steaming liquid into the cups Jane was holding. Jane had to admit, it smelt divine. “Colombian. Strong, but smooth.”  
  
No sooner was she finished pouring, than she was back in her bag and emerged with two different containers. Jane could not believe this was happening.   
  
“Sugar?”  
  
She couldn’t help it. She responded in the same way she would have if another cop had said that to her. “Yes, honey?”  
  
The Doctor frowned and glanced back at her bag. “I...I’m sorry. I didn’t bring honey. That’s more traditionally added to tea, but I’m sure I...”  
  
Jane closed her eyes.  _There_  was the catch. This amazingly gorgeous, obviously intelligent and immaculately put together woman had no sense of humour.   
  
“Doc, I was kidding. Sugar will be fine.”  
  
She watched as Maura turned the conversation over in her head. After a moment, a grin lit up her entire face and Jane found herself grinning right back.   
  
“Oh! A joke! Yes!” She looked like she’d just discovered the meaning of life. “Because I said ‘sugar’ which is sometimes used as a term of endearment and you pretended to misunderstand and called me ‘honey’ in return, correct?”  
  
“Uh, yeah...” Jane was trying to work out whether or not the woman was mocking her. But the wide, guileless smile indicated otherwise.   
  
Maura started to pour sugar into Jane’s coffee. “Say when.” She glanced up at Jane worriedly after a few seconds. “Say when.”  
  
Jane nodded, amused by the concern on the Doctor’s face. “Keep goin’.” Maura stopped pouring and frowned.  
  
“You really should reconsider your sugar intake, Detective. I mean, clearly your physique is beyond reproach.” Her eyes trailed down Jane’s body and back up again. “But that much sugar in a single cup of coffee is highly unhealthy. Your teeth alone will suffer unless yo-“  
  
“Hey Doc, usually people wait until they’re on a first name basis until they start lecturing other people on their eating habits.” She glanced into the cup. “Or...you know...coffee...habits.”  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry. I...I have a tendency to do that to people. I...” Dr Isles’ face crumpled and, for a horrible second, Jane was afraid she was going to cry. She rushed to finish what she had been going to say.  
  
“So you should probably start calling me Jane.”  
  
The immediate change on Maura’s face gave Jane a strange feeling in her chest. She never wanted to be the cause of that smile fading again.   
  
“Then you must call me Maura. Or you can continue to call me ‘Doc’ if you wish. I don’t mind.” Her smile seemed to grow brighter. “Jane.”  
  
Jane had always called the MEs ‘Doc’. But everything about this woman told Jane that she was unlike any other ME she had ever worked with. She watched Maura pour milk into her own coffee and then replace the containers in her bag. She held out the cup for Maura to take, which she did.  
  
“So, Maura, now that we’re firm friends, I guess we should probably talk about the dead guy, huh?”  
  
“Oh, of course, yes.” Jane sipped her coffee as they made their way back over to the body and couldn’t contain the small moan that escaped her throat. It was  _good_  coffee.   
  
Maura smiled at her again. “I told you.” Maura crouched down, setting her own cup on the ground and pulling on a new set of gloves. She bent over the prone body. “Although I don’t think you’ll experience all the nuances of the flavour underneath all of that sugar.”  
  
Jane laughed. “Hey! When I said you could lecture me about my health, I didn’t mean  _constantly_ , okay?” She crouched down so that she was eye level with Maura. “Let’s limit it to one lecture per day. Which is what I’m trying to get my Ma to cut down to, so you’re in good company.”  
  
“Agreed.” Maura said, frowning as she tapped something into one of those fancy iPad things. Jane rolled her eyes. Of course a notepad and pen wouldn’t do.  
  
“So, COD’s pretty clear.” The knife in the guy’s chest was a big clue. “How about TOD?”  
  
Maura looked up at her, her eyebrows drawn together in thought. “I won’t know either until I get him back to the lab and run some tests. My report will be on your desk in the morning.”  
  
Jane laughed again, assuming that Maura was joking. When her face remained serious, it became clear that she wasn’t.  
  
“You won’t know until you run some...Maura, there’s a knife in his chest. There’s blood everywhere. I’m gonna take a stab in the dark and say it was...hey, what do you know, a stab in the dark.”  
  
Maura shook her head and turned back to the body. “I’ll let you know my findings directly.”  
  
“Your findings...” Jane’s eyebrows were almost at her hair line. “I think you’ll  _find_  that he was stabbed to death.”  
  
“I do not guess, Jane.” Maura’s voice brooked no argument and held none of the uncertainty of her earlier interaction with Jane. This was something she was sure of and would not waver from.  
  
“Can we at least agree he was stabbed?” Jane asked, still shocked by Maura’s refusal to give her a COD.  
  
“I will agree that a knife has been inserted into his chest with considerable force. I am unable to determine at this stage whether or not that is what caused his death.”   
  
“Are you always like this?” It was out before she could stop it, although she was glad it wasn’t as sharp as it could have been. To her own ears, it almost sounded affectionate. Maura looked up and smiled in apology.  
  
“Yes. I am. I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it.”  
  
Jane found herself grinning. “You’re gonna be trouble, Dr Isles. I can just tell.”  
  
Maura smiled, clearly relieved that her working practices hadn’t frightened Jane off. “That’s conjecture, Detective Rizzoli.”  
  
If Jane wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of flirtation in Maura’s tone.  
  
“We’ll see.” She spotted Korsak arriving at the edge of the scene and stood up. “When we solve this  _stabbing_...” She made sure to emphasise the word. “...I’ll buy you a decent coffee and we can talk about a little thing called my gut.”  
  
“Well, if you are having problems with your intestines, I can certainly see what advice I can offer but you should probably speak to your own physician because I...”  
  
“Later, Maura!” She looked over her shoulder to find that the ME was smiling after her.   
  
“New Medical Examiner’s a woman?” Korsak asked as she approached him.  
  
“Yep.”   
  
“She okay?”  
  
“She’s...something else.”  
  
“Uh huh.” He was looking at her closely. “She gonna cause trouble?”  
  
She grinned at him. “My gut tells me she’s gonna be all kinds of trouble.”  
  
“Oh boy.” Korsak shook his head. “Here we go.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Coffee](https://archiveofourown.org/works/890971) by [Readbyanalise010](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Readbyanalise010/pseuds/Readbyanalise010)




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